1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an icemaker of a refrigerator including an ice dispersing unit to disperse ice for uniform distribution of ice in an ice making container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a refrigerator includes, e.g., a refrigerating compartment for refrigeration of beverages and food, and a freezing compartment for freezing of beverages and food.
The freezing compartment is provided with an icemaker. The icemaker serves to freeze water received in the freezing compartment into ice.
The icemaker takes the form of a box configured to receive water therein and having an open upper side to assure easy discharge of ice. To allow a user to select a size of ice, a plurality of latticed partitions is arranged in the icemaker.
In operation, water is injected into spaces defined by the latticed partitions of the icemaker through the open upper side of the icemaker, and the icemaker containing the water is preserved in the freezing compartment for a desired time. Once the water received in the icemaker is frozen into ice, the icemaker is inverted to discharge the ice through the open upper side of the icemaker.
Recently, an automatic or semiautomatic icemaker has been developed, wherein supply and freezing of water as well as discharge of ice to a user are implemented under the control of a refrigerator.
The automatic or semiautomatic icemaker includes a water supply device to supply water from an external source into a refrigerator, an icemaker to receive the water supplied from the water supply device, and an ice storage container.
In the automatic or semiautomatic icemaker, water is supplied from the water supply device into the icemaker under the control of a refrigerator, or by manual operation of a user, and the supplied water is received and frozen in the icemaker mounted in a freezing compartment. The frozen ice is separated from the icemaker by a delivery device of the icemaker and in turn, the separated ice is accumulated in the ice storage container arranged under the icemaker to be used based on a user's selection.
However, when the ice is accumulated in the storage container, the ice may be concentrated on a lower end of the storage container. This prevents efficient utilization of the entire storage container and moreover, accumulation of the ice in a specific region may lead to erroneous detection of an ice-full state.